Total Newbie questions. Rebuilding my library from scratch

[SeaNile]

I am going to start all over with my music library in an attempt to get the best quality files so they sound good on the new system. I have a couple of questions. I can use either a Mac or PC to rip the CD's and then transfer to the Salk StreamPlayer. What program do you recommend to rip the CD's to the highest quality resolution?

Sorry for all the questions. Total digital newbie trying to make my new system as good as possible.

Is it difficult to setup all the settings and options within dBpoweramp?

Thanks.

John

[Spoon]

Re: Total Newbie questions. Rebuilding my library from scratch

I would recommend dBpoweramp , really if you ask on dBpoweramps forum, that is the only recommendation you will get. To setup:

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper-setup-guide.htm

[SeaNile]

Re: Total Newbie questions. Rebuilding my library from scratch

That guide is exactly what I was looking for. Looks complicated to me but I'll read through it a few time and see if I can understand all the settings, etc.

[garym]

Re: Total Newbie questions. Rebuilding my library from scratch

Yes. Definitely use dbpoweramp for ripping. And I suggest ripping to FLAC (lossless format).

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Total Newbie questions. Rebuilding my library from scratch

Yes. Definitely use dbpoweramp for ripping. And I suggest ripping to FLAC (lossless format).

That's pretty much it! To summarize:

1. Do your rips on the PC (because dBp works best on it)
2. Use dBpoweramp's CD Ripper program
3. Rip to a lossless codec (they are all equal in audio quality)

Everything else is detail & elaboration.

That guide is exactly what I was looking for. Looks complicated to me but I'll read through it a few time and see if I can understand all the settings, etc.

Don't get too caught up in technical setup. This is the kind of thing where you're apt to learn more and get the hang of it quicker by just diving in and trying it out. Once you select your (lossless) codec, the audio quality is assured. The things you'll need to play with have more to do with metadata, naming strings, and organizing your library.

[garym]

Re: Total Newbie questions. Rebuilding my library from scratch

another thing. It is a good idea to simply click around on all the buttons, options, etc. just to get a lay of the land in terms of what things are where. For example, in the CD ripper screen, click on the various buttons at the top of the page and see where they lead you. Note you can click *on* the buttons and also click the drop down arrow next to the buttons. These are different things. And also run dbpa conversion and click on CODECS then advanced and also music converter tab. There are various options there as well. You don't have to memorize where all these things are, but at least you'll get the notion of the types of things that are adjustable.

[drjenkins]

Re: Total Newbie questions. Rebuilding my library from scratch

Even though I'm certain you are going to love dBpoweramp enough to buy it, be certain to download the free trial first. That way you can be sure that the program works as expected with your system. If you have any problems you should be able to get them sorted before making your purchase.